(TV) The Sage - Gateshead.

["Graham Urquhart" <gurquhart@madasafish.com>]

Well made it to the Sage in Gateshead with about 10 mins to spare.  
Wondering on the way down from Edinburgh whether it would be worth it. A  
bit apprehensive about the venue initially. Very modern concert hall. All  
seating. Mmm.

Nice buzz in the hall as the bells started chiming out over the PA. An  
usher yelled "quiet" and we waited for another few minutes before they  
ambled on.

They were utterly magnificent.

A lot of the usual stage tics from Tom (almost) absent. No lengthy tune  
up. A quick check and started off with 'The Sea' I think. New song anyway  
and slow and gorgeous. Between song tuning quite minimal. Think Tom must  
be getting the hang of his headstock tuner. No complaints from him about  
the lights which were quite subdued throughout. Blues and reds mostly. No  
white spots. Didn't keep a running list of the set but these were all  
played at some point: 1880 or So; Venus; Guiding Light; Little Johnny  
Jewel; Friction; See No Evil; Glory; Elevation; Prove It; Persia; Marquee  
Moon. I'm Gonna Find You. May have missed some. Played for well over an 90  
mins.

Tom looked almost relaxed and was relatively chirpy throughout. At one  
point he commented about being worried how it would sound out front - "big  
roof" but then said that it was sounding great on stage. He joked about  
not finding the right pick as he searched his pockets. His guitar playing  
was sublime, lots of extended improvisation. Jimmy is solid and delivers  
but unlikely to really surprise and Fred and Billy just top notch. The  
more you listen to Billy you realise he must be one of the most  
under-rated drummers around. Tight and inventive. More Elvin Jones than a  
rock drummer.

Crowd reaction was ecstatic. Standing ovations and everyone I chatted to  
very happy. Two encores and the band seemed genuinely warmed by the  
response. Given the venue which also hosts classical concerts etc, the  
sound was pretty pristine and actually was a pretty good environment to  
see them in. Maybe it's an age thing where sitting down doesn't seem such  
a bad idea. Hopefully someone will have taped it.

Had to buy a t-shirt. Only once I got home did I realise that it has the  
Australian dates listed on the back. I can hear Tom's voice in my head:  
"Just flog em in the UK. No-one will notice".


Cheers

Graham












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